Quintero

The cigar brand Quintero is one of the most affordable Habanos on the market. Today, all available vitolas are again handcrafted, so-called Mediumfiller cigars. The latest additions in the mid-2010s were the smaller and thicker formats: Petit Quintero and Favoritos. In the past, there were also machine-made Minis and Puritos, but these are now completely sold out.

Facts about the Quintero brand:

In 1924, Agustin Quintero and his brother opened a cigar factory in Cienfuegos. The full name of the brand is "Quintero y Hno" ("Quintero y Hermano," English: Quintero and Brother). There is mention of a total of four brothers, but the labels read "Quintero y Hno." (Hermano - Brother, singular) and not "Quintero y Hnos." (Brothers, plural).

The brand was likely created in the same year, 1924, but the registration probably took place in 1930, according to some sources. Others suggest that it might have happened as late as 1940. There is no definitive explanation for this discrepancy. It is suspected that Agustin Quintero simply "forgot" to register the brand because he prioritized aspects like cigar quality. Nevertheless, the "Quintero" brand was officially registered in the 1940 export register under Agustin Quintero y Cía. in Cienfuegos. At that time, "Quintero" was one of the few known Habanos produced outside of Havana.

Cienfuegos is one of Cuba's major and oldest tobacco provinces, often referred to as the "Pearl of the South." Agustin Quintero himself emphasized, "My Habanos, Quintero y Hno., are from Cienfuegos, and I am proud of it!" The factory was small, located at Calle D´Clouet 16 in Cienfuegos. When the heirs took over, they showed less care in selecting tobacco, leading to a decline in the brand's reputation. They considered the fact that the cigars came from Cienfuegos and not from Havana as a "blemish." They emphasized from then on that the cigars were just as good as those from Havana, potentially taking away the brand's special essence.

After Quintero's death, it is not known who continued the business or in what form. After the revolution, production fell into state hands. Until the late 1970s, the brand's portfolio consisted of ten formats: six handcrafted and four machine-made. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, nearly all handcrafted "Quintero" cigars were converted to machine-made. However, in recent years, all cigars under the "Quintero" brand are once again fully handcrafted (totalmente a mano). The filler is made up of so-called Mediumfiller, meaning the filler consists of large leaf pieces, not whole leaf halves. However, they are not Short-Filler, as often mistakenly assumed, where the filler consists only of "leaf scraps." Nevertheless, the filler is referred to as "tripa corta" ("short filler" or more accurately: "cut" from cortar, Spanish - to cut).

The small factory in Cienfuegos, where the Quintero brand was "born," still exists today and is open for visitors to tour.